Famous Jews
__TOC__ The following is an alphabetical list of famous Jews, notable followers of Judaism (either from birth or following conversion) or people who professed a Jewish cultural identity. The list includes people who distinguished themselves in the fields of religious scholarship, science, politics, literature, business, art, entertainment and sport amongst others. Most of the names link to Wikipedia articles with more information. For people whose fame has to do with their Judaism, there may be an article on this Judaism Wikia as well, in which case, the link will go to the local article. A * Paula Abdul (born 1962) American singer. * Jason Alexander (born 1959) American actor, comedian and singer. * Woody Allen (born 1935) American actor, comedian and movie director. * Herb Alpert (born 1935) American trumpetist, vocalist and recording industry executive. * Simon Amstell (born 1979) British comedian, TV presenter, actor and screenwriter. * Alan Arkin (born 1934) American actor. * Adam Arkin(born 1956) TV, film and stage actor and director. Son of Alan Arkin * Tom Arnold (born 1959) American actor and comedian, converted to Judaism in 1990. * Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) American professor of biochemistry, author of science-fiction, fantasy, mysteries and non-fiction books on science, history, Shakespeare and the Bible. Born in Petrovichi, Russia. * Hank Azaria (born 1964) American actor, voice of many characters on The Simpsons. B * David Baddiel (born 1964) British comedian, novelist and television presenter. * Sacha Baron-Cohen (born 1971) British actor and comedian whose characters include Ali G, Bruno and Borat. * Max Baer (1909-1959) Heavyweight boxing champion who wore a star of David on his boxing shorts when in the ring. * Roseanne Barr (born 1952) American actress, comedienne, writer, TV producer and diirector. * Lionel Bart (1930-1999) British composer of pop music and musicals, wrote the musical Oliver! * Jon "Bowzer" Bauman (born 1947) American musician. * Saul Bellow (1915-2005) Canadian-born author. * Milton Berle (1908-2002) American comedian and actor. * Irving Berlin (1888-1989) American composer and lyricist, one of the most famous and prodigious songwriters in history. Ironically, his compositions included White Christmas and Easter Parade. * Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) World-famous French stage actress. * Sandra Bernhard (born 1955) Comedianne, actress, singer, and author. * Joe Besser (190 7-1988) American comedian, one of seven performers who at various times formed part of The Three Stooges. * Mayim Bialik (born 1975) American actress. * Theodore Bikel (born 1924) Austrian-born American actor, folk singer and musician. * Jack Black (born 1969) American actor, comedian and musician. * David Blaine (born 1973) American magician. * Mel Blanc (1908-1989) American comedian and voice actor, voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and many more cartoon characters. * Jerrold Lewis "Jerry" Bock (1928-2010) American musical theater composer, Tony and Pulitzer prize winner, composed music for Fiddler on the Roof * Marc Bolan (1947-1977) British musician from the band T-Rex. * Helena Bonham Carter (born 1966) British actress. * Issy Bonn (1893-1977) British actor, singer and comedian. Popularized the song My Yiddishe Momme in Britain. * Victor Borge (1909-2000) Danish-born comedian, pianist and conductor. * Bernard Bresslaw (1934-1993) British comedy actor * Fanny Brice (1891-1951) American comedienne, singer, radio, film and theater actress.. * Matthew Broderick (born 1962) American stage and film actor. * Adrien Brody (born 1973) American actor. * Elkie Brooks (born 1945) British singer. * Mel Brooks (born 1926) American comedy actor, director and film producer. * George Burns (1896-1996) American comedian, actor and writer whose career spanned seven decades * Red Buttons (1919-2006) American comedian and actor.. C * James Caan (born 1940) American actor. * Eddie Cantor (1892-1964) American comedian, actor, singer and songwriter. * Nell Carter (1948-2003) American actress and singer, converted to Judaism in 1982. * Marc Chagall (1887-1985) Russian-French artist. * Sir Ernst Chain (1906-1979) British scientist, Nobel Prize winner in 1945, co-developer of penicillin. Born in Berlin, Germany. * Noam Chomsky (born 1928) American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist and political activist. * Alma Cogan (1932-1966) British pop singer. * Leonard Cohen (born 1934) Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. * Joan Collins (born 1933) British actress. * Billy Crystal (born 1948) American comedian, actor, writer, producer and director. * Edwina Currie (born 1946) British novelist and broadcaster, former Member of Parliament and Junior Health Minister. * Jamie Lee Curtis (born 1958) Golden Globe-winning American film actress, successful writer of books for children. * Tony Curtis (1925-2010) American actor. D * Rodney Dangerfield (1921-2004) American comedian and actor. * Craig David (born 1981) British R&B singer-songwriter. * Larry David (born 1947) American actor, writer, comedian and producer. * Sammy Davis, Jr. (1925-1990) American entertainer, converted to when he married Britt Eckland in 1954 * Neil Diamond (born 1941) American singer-songwriter. * Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) First Earl of Beaconsfield, Prime Minister of Great Britain. * Kirk Douglas (born 1916) American actor and film producer. * Alfred Dreyfus (1859-1935) French army officer who was falsely convicted of treason. * Rene Dreyfus (1905 -1993) French racing driver. * Richard Dreyfuss (born 1947) American film actor E * Albert Einstein (1879 -1955) American physicist, Nobel Prize winner, Zionist. Born in Ulm, Germany. * Ray Ellington (1916-1985) British jazz musician. * Harlan Ellison (born 1934) American writer, chiefly of science-fiction. * Ben Elton (born 1959) British comedian, author, playwright and television director. * Rahm Emanuel (born 1959) US House Representative, White House Chief of Staff, Mayor of Chicago (elect) F * Peter Falk (1927-2011) American actor, best known for playing Lieutenant Columbo on television. * Marty Feldman (1934-1982) British comedian, comedy writer and actor. * Richard Feynman (1918-1988) American physicist, text book writer. * Larry Fine (1902-1975) American comedian, one of seven performers who at various times formed part of The Three Stooges. * Eddie Fisher (1928 2010) American entertainer. * Bud Flanagan (1896-1968) British comedian and singer, at the height of his popularity during World War II. * Max Fleischer (1883-1972) American animator, creator of Koko the Klown and Betty Boop, maker of the first animated Popeye cartoons. Born in Krakow, Poland. * Harrison Ford (born 1942) American actor. * Anne Frank (1929-1945) Dutch teenage Holocaust victim and diarist. * Sir Clement Freud (1924-2009) British politician, writer, broadcaster and chef. * Lucian Freud (1922-2011) British artist. * Sigmund Freud (1885-1939) Austrian physician, the father of psychoanalysis. * Debbie Friedman (born 1952) American musician. G * Serge Gainsbourg (1928-1991) French singer-songwriter, actor and director. * Art Garfunkel (born 1941) American musician. * Mordechai Gebirtig (1877-1942) Yiddish songwriter and Holocaust victim * Uri Geller (born 1946) Israeli who claims to have supernatural psychic abilities. * George Gershwin (1898-1937) American composer and pianist. * Melissa Gilbert (born 1964) American actress, writer and producer. Starred in Little House on the Prairie as a child actress. * Jeff Goldblum (born 1952) American actor. * Samuel Goldwyn (1879-1974) American film producer and movie industry executive. Born in Warsaw, Poland. * Elliot Gould (born 1938) American actor. * Seth Green (born 1974) American actor, comedian and television producer. * Norman Greenbaum (born 1942) American singer-songwriter, best known for his song Spirit in the Sky * Hank Greenberg (1911-1986) American professional baseball player. * Jake Gyllenhaal (born 1980) American actor. H *Goldie Hawn (born 1945) American actress, film director and producer. *Joseph Heller (1923-1999) American novelist, author of Catch 22. *Dustin Hoffman (born 1937) American actor, two time Academy Award winner. *Anthony Horowitz (born 1956) British novelist and screenwriter, creator of Alex Rider. *Harry Houdini (1874-1926) American magician, escapologist and debunker of the supposedly supernatural. Born in Budapest, Hungary. *Curly Howard (1903-1952) American comedian, one of seven performers who at various times formed part of The Three Stooges. *Leslie Howard (1893-1943) British actor, played Ashley Wilkes in Gone With The Wind. Died a heroic death in a plane crash as an agent of the British government. *Moe Howard (1897-1975) American comedian, one of seven performers who at various times formed part of The Three Stooges. *Shemp Howard (1895-1955) American comedian, one of seven performers who at various times formed part of The Three Stooges. *Sarah Hughes (born 1985) American figure-skater, Olympic gold-medalist. I *Jason Isaacs (born 1963) British actor, best known for playing Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies. J * Flory Jagoda (born 1925) American musician, composer of Ocho kandelikas. Born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. * Sid James (1913-1976) British comedy actor. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa. * Billy Joel (born 1949) American pianist, singer-songwriter and classical composer. * Scarlett Johansson (born 1984) American actress and singer. * Al Jolson (1886-1950) American singer, comedian and actor, star of the 1927 film, The Jazz Singer. Born in Seredzius, Lithuania. * Lesley Joseph (born 1945) British actress, best known in Britain for playing the Jewish character Dorien Green in the BBC sitcom Birds of a Feather. K * Franz Kafka (1883 -1924) Czech author who wrote in German. * Bob Kane (1915-1998) American comic book artist and writer, creator of Batman. * Danny Kaye (1913-1987) American comedian, actor and singer. * Miriam Karlin (1925-2011) British actress, starred as the Jewish ghost Mrs. Yetta Feldman in the BBC sit-com [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/So_Haunt_Me So Haunt Me]. * Harvey Keitel (born 1939) American actor. * Larry King (born 1933) American TV and radio host. * Henry Kissinger (born 1923) German-born former U.S. Secretary of State. * Calvin Klein (born 1942) American fashion designer. * Aaron Klug (born 1926) British scientist, winner of the 1982 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Born in Zelva, Lithuania. * Walter Koenig (born 1936) American actor, director and teacher, best known for playing Ensign Chekov in Star Trek. * Arthur Koestler (1905-1983) Hungarian-born novelist and essayist who wrote in Hungarian, German and English. * Lisa Kudrow (born 1963) American actress, best known for playing Phoebe in the sit-com Friends. * Harvey Kurtzman (1924-1993) American cartoonist, founding editor of Mad magazine. L * Shia LaBeouf (born 1986) American movie actor. * Michael Landon (1936-1991) American actor, writer, director and producer. * Ralph Lauren (born 1939) American fashion designer and business executive. * Nigel Lawson (born 1932) British politician, former Chancellor of the Exchequer. * Nigella Lawson (born 1960) British food writer and TV chef. * Stan Lee (born 1922) American comic book writer, editor and publisher, co-creator of Spider-Man. * Mike Leigh (born 1943) British writer, film and theater director. * Claude Levi-Strauss (1908-2009) French anthropologist and ethnologist. * Uriah P. Levy (1792-1862) (War of 1812) First Jewish U.S. Admiral, ended the practice of flogging, bought, restored and gave Montecello (Jefferson's home) as a gift to the American people. The first Jewish Chapel at the United States Naval Academy was named for him. * Jerry Lewis (born 1926) American comedian, actor, singer, film producer and director. * Maureen Lipman (born 1946) British actress, best known in Britain for playing "Jewish Mother" Beatie in a series of commericals for British Telecom. * Jon Lovitz (born 1957) American actor, comedian and singer. The first person to play Hanukkah Harry. * Matt Lucas (born 1974) British actor, comedian and screenwriter. M * Enrico Macias (born 1938) French musician, born in Constantine, Algeria. * Maimonides (1135-1204) Sephardi rabbi, philosopher and physician. * Howie Mandel (born 1955) Canadian-born TV presenter. * Barry Manilow (born 1943) American singer-songwriter and entertainer. * Bernard Manning (1930-2007) Controversial British stand-up comedian. * Marcel Marceau (192 -2007) French actor and mime. * Miriam Margoyles (born 1941) British actress. * The Marx Brothers American stage and film comedians, Chico Marx (1887 - 1961),Groucho Marx (1890-1977), Gummo Marx (1893-1977, did not appear in films), Harpo Marx (1888 -1954) and Zeppo Marx (1901-1979, appeared in the first five films only). * Karl Marx (1818-1883) German philosopher. * Jackie Mason (born 1936) American comedian and former rabbi. * Robert Maxwell (1923-1991) British media tycoon and Member of Parliament. Born in what is now Solotvino, Ukraine. * Golda Meir (1898-1978) One of the founders and a prime minister of Israel. * Yehudi Menuhin (1916-1999) American-born violinist and conductor. * Don Messick (1926-1997) American voice actor, the voice of Scooby-Doo, Papa Smurf and many other cartoon characters. * Debra Messing (born 1968) American actress, best known for playing Grace Adler in Will and Grace. * Bette Midler (born 1945) American singer, actress and comedienne. * George Mikes (1912 -1987) Hungarian-born British author, famous for his humorous commentaries on various countries. * Ed Miliband (born 1969) British politician, leader of the Labour Party. * Jonathan Miller (born 1934) British humorist, theater and opera director, famous intellectual. * Warren Mitchell (born 1926) British actor, played the lead role in the BBC sit-com Till Death Us Do Part, which was adapted in the U.S. as All in the Family. * Isaac Mizrahi (born 1961) American fashion designer. * Zero Mostel (1915-1977) American actor, originated the role of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway. * Paul Muni (1895-1967) Started on Yiddish stage and became famous as a movie actor. N * Julia Neuberger, Baroness Neuberger (born 1950) British rabbi and social reformer. * Anthony Newley (1931-1999) British singer, songwriter and actor. * Paul Newman (1925-2008) American actor, director, racing driver and co-founder of Newman's Own foods. His father and family on his father's side were Jewish (from Poland and Hungary) * Leonard Nimoy (born 1931) American actor, best known for playing Mr. Spock in Star Trek. * Joshua Norton (1819-1880) The self proclaimed, His Imperial Majesty Emperor Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico. P * Sarah Jessica Parker (born 1965) American actress and producer. * Max Perutz (1914-2002) British molecular biologist, winner of 1962 Nobel Prize. Born in Vienna, Austria. * Pink (Alicia Beth Moore, born 1979) American singer-songwriter. * Harold Pinter (1930-2008) British playwright. * Natalie Portman (born 1981) Israeli actress. * Emeric Pressburger (1902-1988) Hungarian-born, Academy Award winning screenwriter, film director and producer. R * Daniel Radcliffe (born 1989) British actor, best known for playing Harry Potter. * Joey Ramone (1951-2001) American punk rock vocalist. * Esther Rantzen (born 1940) British TV presenter, founder of the charity ChildLine. * David Rappaport (1951-1990) British actor, one of the best known dwarf actors in film and television. * Lou Reed (born 1942) American rock musician, songwriter and photographer. * Judith Resnik (1949-1986) Second American woman astronaut, second Jewish astronaut, first American Jew and first Jewish woman astronaut, killed in the Challenger disaster. * Michael Rosen (born 1946) British children's novelist and poet, Britain's Children's Laureate from 2007 to 2009. * Leo Rosten (1908-1997) American writer, author of The Joys of Yiddish. Born in Lodz, Poland. * David Lee Roth (born 1954) American rock singer and radio personality. * Winona Ryder (born 1971) American actress. S * Andrew Sachs (born 1930) German-born British actor, best known for playing the Spanish waiter Manuel in Fawlty Towers. * Jonathan Sacks (born 1948) Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth (a UK position, not a Jewish position) * Oliver Sacks (born 1933) Professor of neurology and psychology at Columbia University, New York. Born in London, England. * Carl Sagan (1934-1996) American astronomer, astrophysicist and author. * Adam Sandler (born 1966) American actor, comedian and film producer. * Alexei Sayle (born 1952) British actor and comedian. * Rob Schneider (born 1963) American actor, comedian, writer and director. * David Schwimmer (born 1966) American actor, film and TV director, best known for playing Ross in the sit-com Friends. * Steven Seagal (born 1952) American actor, producer, writer and martial arts expert, father was Jewish * Neil Sedaka (born 1939) American pop singer, pianist and songwriter. * Jerry Seinfeld (born 1954) American comedian, actor and writer. * Peter Sellers (1925-1980) British actor and comedian, best known for playing Inspector Clouseau in the original Pink Panther films. * Maurice Sendak (1928-2012) American children's book writer and illustartor whose best known book is Where the Wild Things Are. * William Shatner (born 1931) Canadian actor, best known for playing Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek. * Allan Sherman (1924-1973) American TV producer and comedy writer, best known for his parody songs. * Dinah Shore (1915-1994) American singer, actress and television personality. * Joe Shuster (1914-1992) Canadian-born comic book artist, co-creator of Superman. * Jerry Siegel (1914-1996) American comic book writer, co-creator of Superman. * Phil Silvers (1911-1985) American comedy actor, best known for playing Sergeant Bilko. * Gene Simmons (born 1949) Israeli-born musician, bassist and vocalist of the rock band Kiss. * Neil Simon (born 1947) American playwright. * Paul Simon (born 1941) American singer-songwriter. * Isaac Bashevis Singer (1902-1991) American writer, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1978. * Hillel Slovak (1962-1988) Israeli-born musician, guitarist and founding member of the band Red Hot Chili Peppers. * George Soros (born 1930) Hungarina-born American financier, businesman and philanthropist. * Art Spiegelman (born 1948) American comics writer, illustrator and editor. Author of Maus. * Steven Spielberg (born 1946) American film director and producer. * Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) Dutch philosopher. * Mark Spitz (born 1950) Seven time olympic swimming champion 1972 * Paul Stanley (born 1952) American musician, rhythm guitarist and frontman of the rock band Kiss. * William Steig (1907-2003) American cartoonist, sculptor and writer of children's books, creator of Shrek the ogre. * Gertrude Stein (1874-1976) American writer who spent most of her life in France. She was pro Nazi and collaborated with the Vichi government of France. * Judith Steinberg Dean (born 1953) American physician, wife of Howard Dean, First Lady of Vermont (1991-2003). * Jon Stewart (born 1962) American comedian, writer, satirist and actor, host of The Daily Show. * Ben Stiller (born 1955) American comedian, actor, writer, film producer and director. * Sir Tom Stoppard (born 1937) British playwright. Born in Zlin, Czechoslovakia. * Leo Strauss (1899-1973) German-born political philosopher. * Dominique Strauss-Kahn (born 1949) French politician, lawyer and economist, former head of the International Monetary Fund. * Barbra Streisand (born 1942) American singer, songwriter, actress and film maker. * Lord Alan Sugar (born 1947) British businessman, founder of Amstrad Computers, replaces Donald Trump in the British version of the TV series The Apprentice. T * Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011) British-American actress. Converted to Judaism in 1959 when she married Eddy Fisher. * Chaim Topol (born 1935) Israeli stage and film performer, well known for playing Tevye, the milkman, in the film version of Fiddler on the Roof. * Leon Trotsky (1879-1940) Ukrainian-born Bolshevik revolutionary. * Barbara Tuchman (1912-1989) American journalist, author and historian. * Sophie Tucker (1884-1966) Russian-born American actress and singer, popularized the song My Yiddishe Momme. V * Boris Volynov (born 1934) First Jewish astronaut, born in Irkutsk, Siberia. W * Eli Wallach (born 1915) American actor, appeared in several spaghetti-westerns, played Tuco in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. * Sam Wanamaker (1919-1993) American-born actor and film director, founded the Shakespeare Globe Trust, to rebuild a replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theater in London. * Steven Weinberg (born 1933) Nobel Prize winning American physicist. * Joseph Weizenbaum (1923- 2008) German-American artificial intelligence critic, ELIZA programmer. * Elie Wiesel (born 1928) Romanian-born Holocaust survivor, Boston University professor, writer, political activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner. * Simon Wiesenthal (1908-2005) Austrian Holocaust survivor who became famous for his pursuit of Nazi war criminals. * Gene Wilder (born 1933) American film and theater actor, director and writer. * Amy Winehouse (1983-2011) British singer-songwriter. * Henry Winkler (born 1945) American actor and producer, best known for playing The Fonz in Happy Days. * Bernie Winters (1932-1991) British comedian. Z and Esperanto.]] * Ludwig Lazarus Zamenhof (1859-1917) Polish creator of the constructed language Esperanto. Related * Jewish Nobel Prize winners External links *List of Jewish Nobel laureates Category:Biographies Category:Culture